Barclay Saves Trip?
by Mark Lopa
Summary: The fate of Commander Charles Trip Tucker lies in the hands of Commander Reginald Barclay of the U.S.S. Titan...200 years in the future.


**U.S.S. Titan****  
****Constitution Lounge****  
****Stardate 47893.5**

The sunlight bounced off the metallic tables of the U.S.S. Titan's Constitution Lounge. Captain William Riker and Commander Reginald Barclay were seated at the table closest to the huge window overlooking the ship's orbit of Planet Risa. Barclay was in the middle of discussing one of his holostory ideas.

"Let me get this straight, Commander," Riker said. "You created a holostory about Commander Troi and me, and in your holostory, we're watching another holostory?"

Barclay shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair, not sure if Riker was annoyed or confused.

"Yes, Captain," Barclay said. "I've always been fascinated by the dual-fiction effect. For instance, a book that has someone reading a book, or an old telefilm where someone is watching a telefilm. As an author, I need to be careful writing such a story, or I could make it confusing. I think it's a way to test the creative juices of the writer. This is mainly an exercise to help bring me to the next level of writing."

Barclay was a history buff and a fan of the arts. When he served aboard the Enterprise, he took part in a number of plays. It was mainly for social anxiety therapy, but he soon began to love acting, and that spawned his love for writing.

Riker looked at Barclay with a strange expression. Now Barclay was sure Riker was confused.

"Ok, I can understand that," Riker responded. "I'm...flattered you chose me to be in your story. But...I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you telling me this?"

Barclay extended is index finger in the air to make a point. "Well, in the past, I created a holostory involving members of the crew, and when they found out about it, they were less than enthused."

Riker chucked. He knew exactly what Barclay was talking about. Then he stopped laughing.

"Wait a second. You didn't create a story like that, did you?"

"Oh, no Captain," Barclay quickly responded. "Nothing like that at all. It's actually kind of a historical fiction story in an alternate universe."

"I see," Riker said. "It sounds interesting. What's it about?"

Barclay shifted again in his seat, but this time in enthusiasm. He extended his hands out to animate his explanation.

"Well, remember you told me about the dilemma you had about telling Captain Picard about what to do when we encountered the Pegasus?"

Riker narrowed his eyes. "Of course," Riker said, "but only a handful of people know about my personal struggles with that situation. I told you that in confidence, Commander."

"Oh, I know Captain," Barclay immediately responded. "I should have told you that this story is only for my eyes...and yours and Commander Troi's if you so choose. Again, it's more of an exercise to augment my writing talents more than anything else."

Riker nodded.

"Ok, go on, Commander."

"Well, in my story, I have Commander Troi suggest you run an old holoprogram about one of the missions on the original Enterprise, the NX-01. In my story, she feels the events of the older mission and the way certain crewmembers feel about other crewmembers could help that Commander Riker with his decision on whether to tell Captain Picard about Pegasus."

Riker was intrigued, but still a little confused.

"So…in your story, you have me running a holoprogram dealing with the NX-01," Riker repeated. "Do you have me just watching the program, or am I interacting with the crew?"

"Both! Sometimes you find it worthwhile just to watch, and other times you feel it beneficial to actually play members of the crew."

Riker had to admit to himself it seemed rather interesting. He'd never been the subject of a story before. It might end up being fun.

"So have you already written the story, Commander, or are you asking my permission?"

"Well actually, Captain...I have indeed already written the story. I just got ideas and ran with them. But when I was done, I felt funny watching it without you or Commander Troi knowing about it. Like I said, I will never share this with anyone, but I wanted to let you know. If you and Commander Troi want me to delete the program, I will."

Riker thought for just a moment, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Commander. I see no harm in this at all. However...I have to admit I'm extremely curious about the story. Would you mind if I watched it?"

Barclay shot up in his chair.

"I wouldn't mind at all, Captain! In fact, I would be honored if you would watch it and critique it for me. It's only about 40 minutes long."

Riker smiled and rose out of his chair, with an eager Barclay following.

"Well, then...let's get to the holodeck, Commander."

A few minutes later, Riker and Barclay arrived in one of the Titan's holodecks. They stood on the yellow gridlines in the middle of the room.

"Are you ready, Captain?" Barclay asked.

Riker nodded. "Yes. Go ahead."

Barclay looked up at the ceiling as if he was speaking to someone above him. "Computer, initiate program Barclay NX-01 Alpha, objective mode."

"Acknowledged," the computer said. Immediately, Riker and Barclay found themselves on the bridge of the NX-01. The crew was busy working, and Captain Archer walked on the bridge and asked his communications officer about the pronunciation of an ambassador for a speech.

"Ah..._the_ speech," Riker said softly. He then looked over at one of the stations, and saw...himself...in an NX-01 era uniform. Riker couldn't help but smile. Watching him act in a holostory wasn't spooky as he thought, but kind of neat. Barclay noticed Riker's enjoyment and also smiled.

For the 40 minutes it took to watch the holostory, Riker was amazed at what the Enterprise crew would do for each other and how much they stuck together as a crew. It reminded him of the crew he was a member of on Picard's Enterprise, and hopefully as it would be with his crew on the Titan. Riker watched as the holoprogram wound down.

"So, I guess we're through here," the holographic Troi said. The holographic Riker smiled and said, "I guess we are. Computer, end program."

The scene of the auditorium changed to one of holodeck gridlines, and the Riker and Troi of the holostory walked out. The holodeck in the story then faded away, and Riker and Barclay were left standing in their empty holodeck.

"It worked!" Barclay said. "I wasn't sure if it would, but it worked!"

"Commander?" Riker asked.

"When your holographic character said, 'computer, end program,' I wasn't sure if our holodeck would take that as an order as well and shut down the whole program and not just the one in the holostory. I had to do some clever programming to get around that, and it worked!"

Riker chucked. "Well I'm glad for you. I have to say...I was intrigued by what you put together and how you did it. You know, had I actually done this--use that old mission as a guide to help me make my decision--it probably would have helped. Maybe you should be in another line of work, Commander." They both chuckled. "I got a kick out of watching myself in a story. Although, I think I looked a little older than how I did back then."

"Sorry about that, captain. I can change that."

Riker shook his head.

"That's quite alright," Riker said. "I'm curious about the changes you made, though. Why did you end the relationship between Commander Tucker and Commander T'Pol? The two of them made quite an impact on interspecies relationships, especially in Ambassador Sarek's life. And the death of Trip...that surprised me."

"Well, the relationship between Tucker and T'Pol was so important to the founding of the Federation that I thought it would be interesting to play out how things might have been if they went their separate ways, and if one of them had died. I decided to have Tucker die."

"Why is that?"

"Well...if it were the other way around, it would mean no more stories with T'Pol…and…well...I want her in my stories."

Riker laughed.

"I understand. And I'm sure my holocharacter didn't mind giving her a little smooch." They both laughed. "Well, thank goodness Commander Tucker didn't really die. Who knows how things would have turned out for all of us?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to create and find out in my next chapters. I used your problem as a lead-in, and now I'm going to focus on the Enterprise crew. Would you like to see them when I'm done? What about Commander Troi?"

"Maybe, we'll see, Commander. I thank you for this glimpse, but for now why don't you just keep them for yourself. It seems more of a personal thing, anyway. I think my wife would get a little spooked seeing herself. She'd probably complain she looked puffy or something. We can just keep this to ourselves, if you don't mind...for now, at least."

"Certainly, sir."

Riker smiled and started to walk out of the holodeck. "I'll see you on the bridge later. And Reg...you're a very good writer. Nice work."

"Thank you, sir!" Barclay said as he smiled. As Riker exited, Barclay was filled with inspiration and enthusiasm after the positive feedback from Riker. This could be the beginning of something really great...perhaps an entire epic about the original Enterprise crew, he thought. Barclay had the holodeck create a desk and chair, rubbed his hands together, and sat down to work on more stories.


End file.
